“Were we?” she challenged, a snide drollness to her voice.
His mouth hooked in a half-grin and he rolled to his chest looking up at her. “You don’t like Finn’s wife.” This was the small town gossip he lived for.
“I don’t have a problem with her.”
“Liar,” he grinned. “I can see it in your eyes. You hate her.”
“Hate’s a strong word.” She bit another pretzel. “But what kind of girl goes by the nickname Philly? What is she, a horse?”
He chuckled and made a sharp meow sound. “He doesn’t call her Philly as in a horse. It’s because she’s from Philadelphia.”
“Oh. Well, it’s stupid.”
Another chuckle and he snatched the pretzel out of her hand. “You sound jealous.”
“Hardly. I broke things off with him.”
“If I recall, you got a little handsy with the locals.”
Her lips formed a flat line and something shuttered in her expression. “I did a lot of things I regret.”
He didn’t want her to get sad again. He wanted to joke around and pass the time. “Like Bran Dawson?”
She threw a pretzel stick at his head. He picked it up and ate it. “Shut up.”
Grinning when he caught a hint of laughter dancing in her eyes. “Nothing wrong with dating. It’s the only way to figure out what you like. Everyone has to date at least one loser.”
She smirked. “True. I’m sure you helped a lot of girls out in that area.”
“Ouch.”
She stared at him, her eyes saying something her mouth refused to speak. Finally, she asked, “What about you? Who did you like when we were growing up?”
“Well, there was Perrin Harris.”
“Who didn’t like her?”
“True. She’s still hot.”
“Careful, she’s married now.”
He arched a brow. “Yeah, she almost married Bran Dawson.”
“Why are you so hung up on Bran?”
Probably because the mere mention of the prick made his blood boil. “He screwed over my sister. I’d love the chance to beat him into the ground.”
He thought back to a few years ago when Mariella had been caught up with that weasel. Bran had strung her along for years, all while in a relationship with someone else. He even proposed to the other girl and expected Mariella to stick around as his side squeeze.
Giovanni was still pissed off that his cousin Ryan got a shot at him. If anyone should have punched that asshole it should have been him. Mariella was his sister, after all.
“Who else? Everyone had a thing for Perrin.”
“Remember Josephine Cook? She was always cool.”
“Jo? She’s gay.”
His brows shot up. “What? No, she’s not. We used to make out all the time.”
Erin laughed, the sound more teasing than her usual taunting snicker. Her lips pursed with mock sympathy and she shrugged. “Must have been your kissing.”
“Yeah right.” His mind processed the shock, but the more he thought about Jo, the more he could see her liking girls. How had he missed that when they were younger? “Remember Jenn Moore?”
At that, Erin’s head tilted and her eyes widened. “Braydon McCullough’s ex?”
Giovanni nodded. He had it so bad for Jenn in high school. “I was obsessed.”
Erin laughed, but it came out as more of a disbelieving scoff. “She was mean.”
“Uh, in this scenario, is she the kettle or the pot? I always get you two confused.”
Her mouth sealed shut. “Whatever. Jenn purposefully liked hurting people. I remember when Samantha McCullough first came around. Jenn told me she was going to break her and Braydon up.”
Giovanni laughed. “She didn’t have to. Colin handled that.”
“Right?” She chuckled again. “That was nuts. I always assumed he wasn’t into girls.”
“Well, he had no problem going after his brother’s.”
She shook her head. “Your family has so much drama.”
“We like it that way. Gives us plenty to talk about and more to repent for on Sunday.”
Rolling her eyes, she dug out another pretzel. “Well, aren’t you just the good little Catholic boy.”
“Hey, I was an altar boy!”
“I’m sure. So, back to Jenn. Did you ever hook up with her?”
“Nah. She was hooked on Braydon.”
“Everyone was. If it wasn’t Braydon, it was Kelly. And if it wasn’t Kelly it was Luke.”
He eyed her curiously. “Which brings us back to you and Finn.”
Setting the empty bag of pretzels aside, she drew in a deep breath and leaned into the headboard. “Finn was…nice.”
Yeah, that was accurate. His cousin was one of the most thoughtful people he knew. Dependable. Always looking out for others.
“So why’d you leave him?”
Her tongue darted over her lower lip, licking a grain of salt away. She wasn’t looking at him, but rather, staring off in the distance as if looking back through time.
“He would have left me eventually. Being with him was like waiting for the other shoe to drop. Sometimes, the looming anticipation of him reaching the last straw was too painful to bear.”
He sat up, stretching his legs across the bed. “What do you mean? Finn’s the most level-headed guy I know. He’s not a quitter.”